By far the largest number of motor vehicle crash deaths are occupants of passenger vehicles including cars, minivans, pickups, SUVs and cargo/large passenger vans. The likelihood of crash death varies markedly among these vehicle types according to size. Small/light vehicles have less structure and size to absorb crash energy, so crash forces on occupants will be higher. People in lighter vehicles are at a disadvantage in collisions with heavier vehicles.
Puckett, S.M. and Kindelberger, J.C. 2016. Relationships between Fatality Risk, Mass, and Footprint in Model Year 2003-2010 Passenger Cars and LTVs – Preliminary Report. (Docket No. NHTSA-2016-0068). Washington, DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Pickups and SUVs are proportionally more likely than cars to be in fatal single-vehicle crashes, especially rollovers. However, pickups and SUVs generally are heavier than cars, so occupant deaths in SUVs and pickups are less likely to occur in multiple-vehicle crashes.

Guide to car size groups

Guide to SUV size groups

Guide to pickup size groups

Curb weight

Shadow
(overall length x width in square feet)

Curb weight

Curb weight

70-80

81-90

91-100

101-110

> 110

Small

3,001-3,750 lbs

Small

≤ 4,000 lbs

2,001-2,500 lbs

Mini

Small

Small

Small

Midsize

Midsize

3,751-4,750 lbs

Large

> 4,000 lbs and carrying capacity = 1/2 ton

2,501-3,000 lbs

Small

Small

Midsize

Midsize

Midsize

Large

4,751-5,750 lbs

Very large

> 4,000 lbs and carrying capacity > 1/2 ton

3,001-3,500 lbs

Small

Midsize

Midsize

Large

Large

Very large

> 5,750 lbs or shadow > 115 sq ft

3,501-4,000 lbs

Small

Midsize

Large

Large

Very large

> 4,000 lbs

Midsize

Midsize

Large

Very large

Very large

Note: Passenger versions of vans often referred to as minivans are classified as cars.

The following facts are based on analysis of data from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) and The Polk Company's National Vehicle Population Profile.

A total of 23,708 passenger vehicle occupants died in 2017, 23 percent fewer than in 1975. As pickups and SUVs have become more popular, the distribution of vehicle types in fatal crashes has changed. Car occupant deaths have declined 46 percent since 1975, while pickup occupant deaths have risen 20 percent and SUV occupant deaths are more than 10 times as high.

Passenger vehicle occupant deaths by vehicle type, 1975-2017

Year

Car occupants

Pickup occupants

SUV occupants

All passenger vehicle occupants

Number

%

Number

%

Number

%

Number

%

1975

25,715

84

3,674

12

455

1

30,601

100

1976

26,163

82

4,225

13

577

2

31,724

100

1977

26,698

81

4,512

14

729

2

32,823

100

1978

27,898

80

5,103

15

852

2

34,923

100

1979

27,518

79

5,423

15

945

3

35,026

100

1980

27,282

78

5,489

16

1,124

3

34,996

100

1981

26,406

78

5,236

16

1,021

3

33,711

100

1982

23,144

78

4,779

16

862

3

29,656

100

1983

22,801

78

4,660

16

920

3

29,154

100

1984

23,482

78

4,884

16

886

3

30,094

100

1985

23,076

77

4,892

16

1,024

3

29,848

100

1986

24,880

77

5,334

17

1,131

4

32,224

100

1987

25,115

76

5,795

17

1,269

4

33,145

100

1988

25,825

76

6,089

18

1,320

4

34,105

100

1989

25,269

75

6,016

18

1,373

4

33,599

100

1990

24,413

75

6,032

18

1,480

5

32,711

100

1991

22,738

74

5,858

19

1,521

5

30,810

100

1992

21,824

74

5,476

19

1,390

5

29,457

100

1993

22,117

74

5,611

19

1,552

5

29,994

100

1994

22,622

73

5,604

18

1,809

6

30,820

100

1995

23,124

72

5,973

19

2,006

6

31,914

100

1996

23,426

72

5,928

18

2,210

7

32,353

100

1997

23,162

72

5,922

18

2,416

7

32,343

100

1998

22,357

70

5,904

19

2,711

9

31,781

100

1999

22,119

69

6,095

19

3,019

9

32,008

100

2000

21,985

68

5,996

19

3,337

10

32,109

100

2001

21,604

68

6,121

19

3,521

11

31,938

100

2002

22,007

67

6,058

19

4,022

12

32,724

100

2003

21,053

65

5,833

18

4,463

14

32,166

100

2004

20,560

65

5,716

18

4,772

15

31,750

100

2005

19,892

63

6,040

19

4,847

15

31,455

100

2006

19,034

62

5,877

19

4,973

16

30,628

100

2007

17,763

61

5,758

20

4,975

17

29,155

100

2008

15,691

61

5,021

20

4,350

17

25,547

100

2009

14,102

60

4,719

20

4,254

18

23,507

100

2010

13,404

60

4,443

20

4,130

18

22,351

100

2011

12,711

59

4,245

20

4,095

19

21,413

100

2012

13,089

60

4,339

20

4,171

19

21,906

100

2013

12,704

59

4,215

20

4,098

19

21,361

100

2014

12,529

59

4,223

20

4,103

19

21,131

100

2015

13,295

58

4,490

20

4,577

20

22,741

100

2016

14,041

59

4,625

19

4,908

20

23,957

100

2017

13,775

58

4,407

19

5,174

22

23,708

100

A total of 17,662 passenger vehicle drivers died in 2017, about the same as in 2016 and 9 percent fewer than in 1975. Fifty-seven percent of passenger vehicle driver deaths in 2017 were car drivers, 20 percent were pickup drivers, and 21 percent were SUV drivers.

Age and gender differences

Twenty-four percent of passenger vehicle occupants killed in 2017 were younger than 25.

Passenger vehicle occupant deaths by age, 2017

Age

All occupants

Number

%

<25

5,706

24

25-29

2,474

10

30-34

1,907

8

35-39

1,654

7

40-44

1,388

6

45-49

1,419

6

50-54

1,458

6

55-59

1,505

6

60-64

1,352

6

65-69

1,084

5

70+

3,722

16

All *

23,708

100

*Total includes other and/or unknowns

Seventy-four percent of passenger vehicle occupants killed in 2017 were drivers; 71 percent of these were males.

Passenger vehicle occupant deaths by age, type, and gender, 2017

Age

Drivers

All occupants

Male

Female

Total*

Male

Female

Total*

Number

%

Number

%

Number

%

Number

%

Number

%

Number

%

<16

20

65

11

35

31

100

484

52

448

48

932

100

16-19

757

68

350

32

1,108

100

1,179

64

655

36

1,835

100

20-24

1,536

73

576

27

2,113

100

2,004

68

934

32

2,939

100

25-29

1,424

73

516

27

1,940

100

1,740

70

734

30

2,474

100

30-34

1,127

74

404

26

1,532

100

1,333

70

573

30

1,907

100

35-39

1,011

74

353

26

1,364

100

1,181

71

473

29

1,654

100

40-44

779

69

352

31

1,132

100

900

65

487

35

1,388

100

45-49

816

70

351

30

1,168

100

938

66

480

34

1,419

100

50-54

863

72

336

28

1,199

100

978

67

480

33

1,458

100

55-59

886

70

376

30

1,262

100

998

66

507

34

1,505

100

60-64

809

71

329

29

1,138

100

890

66

462

34

1,352

100

65-69

602

68

280

32

882

100

671

62

413

38

1,084

100

≥70

1,859

67

915

33

2,774

100

2,172

58

1,550

42

3,722

100

All*

12,500

71

5,151

29

17,662

100

15,488

65

8,208

35

23,708

100

*Total includes other and/or unknowns

Eight percent of passenger vehicle occupant deaths were in the second or third row; 29 percent of these were younger than 13.

Passenger vehicle occupant deaths by seating position and age, 2017

Seating position

<13 years

13-19 years

≥20 years

All*

Number

%

Number

%

Number

%

Number

%

Driver

0

0

1,139

6

16,504

93

17,662

100

Front row passenger

79

2

505

13

3,225

85

3,816

100

Second row passenger

503

28

360

20

911

51

1,781

100

Third row passenger

42

51

14

17

27

33

83

100

All*

677

3

2,090

9

20,902

88

23,708

100

*Total includes other and/or unknowns

Driver death rates

Computing driver death rates per million registered passenger vehicles allows for comparisons of fatal crash risk across vehicle groups. The computed rates reflect the influence of vehicle designs plus their patterns of use and the demographics of their drivers. Driver death rates are based on 1-3-year-old vehicles only so as to minimize the effects of vehicle aging. Rates based on fewer than 120,000 vehicle registrations are considered unreliable and are not included.

Since 1978, the overall rates of driver and occupant deaths per million registered vehicles have declined across all passenger vehicle types. Declines in death rates have been largest for SUV occupants.

Historically, the rates of driver deaths per million registered vehicles have been higher for the smaller and lighter vehicles. This was true again in 2017, but the differences were less extreme than they used to be.

Overall in 2017, there were 13 driver deaths per million registered passenger vehicles in single-vehicle crashes and 23 driver deaths per million registered passenger vehicles in multiple-vehicle crashes. Cars had the highest number of deaths per registered vehicle both in single-vehicle crashes (16 per million) and in multiple-vehicle crashes (30 per million). SUVs had the lowest number of deaths per registered vehicle both in single-vehicle crashes (8 per million) and in multiple-vehicle crashes (14 per million).

Driver deaths per million registered passenger vehicles 1-3 years old by crash type, 2017

Multiple-vehicle

Single-vehicle

Single-vehicle rollover

All crashes

Deaths

Rate

Deaths

Rate

Deaths

Rate

Deaths

Rate

Cars

Mini

55

52

19

18

6

6

74

70

Small

311

38

133

16

51

6

444

54

Midsize

257

25

159

16

58

6

416

41

Large

60

22

59

22

22

8

119

44

Very large

29

16

15

8

6

3

44

24

All cars

713

30

386

16

143

6

1,099

46

Pickups

Small

15

15

20

21

6

6

35

36

Large

101

22

61

13

25

5

162

35

Very large

32

21

21

14

8

5

53

35

All pickups

157

22

106

15

41

6

263

37

SUVs

Small

121

18

59

9

28

4

180

27

Midsize

105

12

62

7

21

2

167

20

Large

17

8

17

8

10

5

34

17

Very large

3

7

3

7

1

2

6

15

All SUVs

247

14

142

8

61

3

389

22

All passenger vehicles

All

1,144

23

640

13

248

5

1,784

36

Driver deaths per million registered passenger vehicles 1-3 years old by crash type, 2017, for pickups and SUVs by 2WD and 4WD

Multiple-vehicle

Single-vehicle

Single-vehicle rollover

All crashes

2WD

4WD

2WD

4WD

2WD

4WD

2WD

4WD

Deaths

Rate

Deaths

Rate

Deaths

Rate

Deaths

Rate

Deaths

Rate

Deaths

Rate

Deaths

Rate

Deaths

Rate

Pickups

Small

10

22

5

10

9

20

11

21

3

7

3

6

19

42

16

31

Large

39

28

62

19

21

15

40

12

8

6

17

5

60

43

102

32

Very large

4

31

28

20

0

0

21

15

0

0

8

6

0

0

49

35

All pickups

53

27

95

19

30

15

72

14

11

6

28

5

83

42

167

33

SUVs

Small

75

27

46

11

29

11

30

7

11

4

17

4

104

38

76

19

Midsize

55

17

50

10

30

9

32

6

8

2

13

3

85

26

82

16

Large

9

12

8

6

11

15

6

5

6

8

4

3

20

27

14

11

Very large

1

8

2

7

3

24

0

0

1

8

0

0

4

32

2

7

All SUVs

140

20

106

10

73

11

68

6

26

4

34

3

213

31

174

16

Frontal impacts accounted for 16 driver deaths per million registered passenger vehicles in multiple-vehicle crashes in 2017 compared with 5 deaths per million in side impacts and 2 deaths per million in rear impacts.

Frontal impacts accounted for 9 driver deaths per million registered passenger vehicles in single-vehicle crashes in 2017 compared with 1 death per million in side impacts and fewer than 1 death per million in rear impacts.

Rollover

A vehicle is classified as rolling over if it tips onto its side or roof at any time during the crash. The rollover may occur subsequent to a frontal or side impact with another vehicle or a fixed object. Many rollovers occur after a vehicle leaves the roadway and may lead to occupants being ejected from the vehicle, increasing the likelihood of a fatality.

A total of 7,229 passenger vehicle occupants died in rollover crashes in 2017. Twenty-seven percent of these did not involve any other impact.

More than three-fourths of fatal rollovers are single-vehicle crashes. A total of 5,595 passenger vehicle occupants died in single-vehicle rollover crashes in 2017, 5 percent fewer than in 2016 and 29 percent fewer than in 1978.